Album Notes

“Black Tie Spy” by Spy-Fi (2008)

Black Tie Spy [BTS] is the latest CD offering from Spy-Fi, Cleveland, Ohio’s spy-detective band. With the band’s first two releases (2004), “Music for Spies, Thighs and Private Eyes Volumes 1 and 2”, Spy-Fi concentrated on interpreting classic spy and detective themes.

This time Spy-Fi gathered a collection of original compositions interspersed with select cover tunes. Those covers include a wide variety of styles and influences, not necessarily from the spy-detective genre. They include the classic Perry Mason Theme by Fred Steiner, Rumble by Link Wray, Apache by the Shadows and Wave by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Also included is a snippet of Edvard Grieg’s Anitra’s Dance from Peer Gynt.

The album is organized around the diverse moods and moments one might encounter in a movie soundtrack. Finished thematic ideas are separated by short song sketches which then segue back into more produced and finished tracks. Some tracks also include spoken word segments in Russian, which lend to the air of mystery and intrigue that one may find in a spy saga.

The album is named after its opening track; a collaboration between Spy-Fi and Vic Flick. Mr. Flick is best known for his contributions to the original James Bond Theme and 11 other James Bond soundtracks. Together they have penned Black Tie Spy. Spy-Fi is honored to have Vic involved with the CD and Vic plays guitar on the title track.

At face value, a Black Tie Spy might suggest a male James Bond type character in the usual tuxedo and black tie. But as one can see on the CD cover, all is not what it seems. This Black Tie Spy is a woman, and she means business – and says so in Russian throughout the CD.

The alluring woman is none other than Kay O’Hara; who hails from Hamilton, Ontario Canada. Kay is a successful pinup model who is involved with a variety of modeling work and was happy to be involved with the new Spy-Fi project. The great Russian vocals were provided by Alla Agafonov, a good friend of Spy-Fi.

Recently Spy-Fi underwent some personnel changes due to the relocation of its drummer and keyboard player. Bob Yeager, the drummer, moved to Austin, Texas in 2006 and Scott Anderson, the keyboard player, moved to Naples, Florida in 2007. They are still contributing to the overall effort, but distance has obviously limited their involvement on a day-to-day basis. Both Tom Pervanje and Mick Zofcin are still in the Cleveland area and are included on the CD.

A number of other local musicians were invited to sit in and assist BTS:

Bill Capauno, from Blue Taxi, contributed a number of guitar tracks including leads and rhythm. In addition, he and Tom Pervanje penned “Memory Burn”, a track previously included on the Deep Eddy Records compilation, “Big Wave Rider”.

Hank Levine, the very first drummer for Spy-Fi, has a big presence on this album. His contributions to the jazzier themes are just what the tunes needed.

Other musicians include mandolinist Bob Rericha from the Knights Tempo, drummer Denny Melreit from Code Blue and drummer Bob Capuano from Blue Taxi. Bob Capuano is the drummer on Apache. Sadly, Bob passed away on October 29, 2007. This version of Apache is his last recorded work. He was an outstanding human being and this tune is included as a tribute to him. His brother Bill Capuano provides the soaring lead guitar work on the track.

The album has a total of 20 tracks, running for almost 48 minutes. There is a great variety of moods and themes ranging from spy to surf and from Latin to jazz. It is intended to be listened to in its entirety. We hope that you enjoy this latest offering, and thank you for your continued support of Spy-Fi.

Until the next one, be well.